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Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
Isaiah 26:10 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Let favor be shown to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness. In the land of uprightness he will deal wrongfully, and will not see Yahweh’s majesty.
  • BSB Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD.
  • NKJV Let grace be shown to the wicked, Yet he will not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, And will not behold the majesty of the Lord.
  • NASB Though the wicked person is shown compassion, He does not learn righteousness; He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness, And does not perceive the majesty of the Lord.
  • NLT Your kindness to the wicked does not make them do good. Although others do right, the wicked keep doing wrong and take no notice of the Lord’s majesty.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Even when shown favor, the wicked refuse to learn righteousness and act perversely, blind to God's majesty. Grace alone does not soften a stubborn heart.

Overview

Kindness extended to the wicked does not produce repentance; in a land of uprightness they still do wrong and ignore God's majesty. The verse exposes the hardness of the unregenerate heart. It underscores the need for the inward transformation that only God's grace in Christ can work.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 30

  • John 5:37–38And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
  • Hos 11:7And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.
  • Rom 2:4–5Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
  • Rev 2:21And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
  • Exod 8:31–32And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.
  • Jer 2:7And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.
  • Prov 1:32For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
  • Mic 3:10–12They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
  • Mic 2:10Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.
  • Exod 8:15But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.
  • Deut 32:15But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
  • Eccl 3:16And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
  • Exod 9:34And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.
  • Ps 106:43Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.
  • Ezek 22:2–16Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.
  • Hos 13:6According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.
  • 1 Sam 15:17And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
  • Isa 27:13And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
  • Isa 24:5The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
  • Ps 78:54–58And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased.
  • Ps 143:10Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.
  • Hos 9:3They shall not dwell in the LORD’s land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.
  • Ps 28:4–5Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.
  • Isa 22:12–13And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
  • Jer 31:23Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.
  • Isa 5:12And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.
  • Isa 2:10Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
  • Isa 63:9–10In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
  • Isa 32:6For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
  • Matt 4:5Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 26:10YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 26:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.